HOW NOT TO RV

HOW NOT TO RV by Jennifer Flower is a free Kindle upload, and a very funny book. I even think that folks who do not RV fulltime will enjoy this book. Allow me please to return to our week stay in Caroline's front yard. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, we had a blast with Caroline, Sam and the boys and cherish every minute that we are able to spend with them. However, their friend, "Big Al," who lives a short piece down the road from them raises Black Angus cattle and they pasture close to Caroline and Sam's house. Our first night out of The Forest, we were serenaded by "Big Al's" cattle mooing, baying, and making strange loud noises throughout the night. I noticed on the following day that the cattle were again not out to pasture all day. We were serenaded once more on the second night so I inquired what in the world is "Big Al" doing to his cattle. They informed me that he was weaning 150 calves, and he couldn't let them back out to pasture until they were completely weaned from their MAMMAS! So our nightly chorus highlighted the Mammas calling for their little ones and the calves calling for their Mammas! We stayed at Caroline's for a week, and those unfortunate cattle were not let out to pasture once. Just thought it was funny because I have never given any consideration to how you wean a calve. It was hard enough to wean my two children. There is a big hay pasture in Caroline's front yard, and the owner decided to mow it down on Saturday before Easter Sunday. Most of Caroline's Easter guests were sneezing and poor Kelly's eyes were so swollen that she looked Oriental. On the following Wednesday the farmer got out into the pasture and raked his hay up into rows. Then he spent two full days bailing baling it up into bales. Lincoln enjoyed each pass of the tractor with the baling machine (whatever it is called) on back spitting out bales of hay about every 25 yards. The photo below is of Phil, cousin Lily, and Lincoln climbing on a bale of hay. They are all so cute. I promised the kids a huge game of Hide N Seek around the bales when we visit the next time.

Billy and I are still somewhat busy sprucing up the campground for Memorial Day weekend. We surprisingly had almost all of our waterfront sites full with weekend guests this past weekend. We are still immensely enjoying our unlimited supply of water, and Billy grilled dinner for us outside tonight and we did not have to rush to cool the grill, clean the grill and put it out of bear's reach or scent. It still seems strange to us to not be "bear aware" at all times. Our refrigerator/freezer saga continues. We had a repairman out Sunday to look at it, and he has had to order a part that will not arrive until May 7th or 9th. MEANWHILE, yesterday out of the clear blue sky the freezer managed to freeze once again. Whatever! It is under factory warranty so we just want it to be dependable. On that note, allow me to close for now and go to our refrigerator across the street for a soda. "Life is Good Today" as always!

Our RV Refrigerator and "Expect the Unexpected"

When last we posted we were looking forward to having a refrigerator in our motorhome that was level and working. We purchased and Billy installed the new leveler, and we expected a working refrigerator when we turned it back on. Unfortunately, we could not convince the unit to cool so we phoned a repairman. Much to our dismay the refrigerator needs a part replaced that will take about two weeks to deliver. We feel lucky that we have the use of the refrigerator across the street, but it is SO inconvenient.

Busy as beavers we have been preparing the Park to be full on the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend. We are picking up big limbs and debris to facilitate mowing with the mower. We took the pressure washer to Comfort Station #9 and made it as sparkling clean as is possible in an old station. Billy sprayed weed killer and we are doing everything possible not to have to do much weed eating! Wednesday we had our usual large table gathered at the pizza place for the Wednesday night buffet. It was fun seeing everybody together again. Did I mention that we have a litter of fox in the park, and we were told that we have triplet deer this year?

Thanks for stopping in and Life Remains Good Today!

Still Settling in.....

Don't recall if I mentioned the drought conditions at Elijah Clark State Park. The lake is dreadfully low so we welcomed the rain that arrived on Wednesday. Billy has been busy spraying weed killer, utilizing the front end loader and mowing grass. I am trying to pick up the limbs and tidy each campsite to ready the campground for the Memorial Day weekend. As compared to Ocala National Forest in some ways it is more peaceful here; however, when we hear the hum of a lawn mower or a weed eater in the background of the critter's songs our tranquility is disturbed. We are still tilted heavily to the right and had to shut down the refrigerator last night because it started leaking. Guess it is a fact that these RV refrigerators like to be level. Thankfully we are provided with a refrigerator here at Elijah Clark so we filled it up last night and turned our RV "toy" refrigerator off until we can get level. Like a passenger on the Titantic I still say "Hold on to the rails when we capsize!", and Billy says he feels like he is walking through the Fun House at the fair. Thankfully with the use of an additional refrigerator we can adjust our diets back to something resembling normal. We had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, homemade pumpkin bread, and fresh green beans for dinner last night. We now have lots of refrigerator space to store those left overs. I made pimento cheese and can't get past the desire to eat as many grilled pimento cheese sandwiches as I can each day. Tonight I am going to Caroline's house for my very first Pampered Chef party. Living in civilization has some perks, and I can't wait to see those precious grandsons. Life remains good here in GA today. At Caroline's house I found this photo of Billy and I on Panama City beach. Thought I would post it because there are not many photos of us together, and we are together almost every where we go!

We Return to Elijah Clark State Park

It felt like coming home when we drove into Elijah Clark on Monday. What fun to see our "old" friends again. We drove directly to our beloved Campground 2 and began to set up.....but STOP! We could not get one of the levels to descend so we sit listing heavily to the right until we pick up a new level on Friday or Monday. Until then we practically have to hold the shower door shut for one another to take a shower. While sitting at the dining table this morning eating breakfast and leaning to the right, it felt we were on the doomed Titantic. We are however not dismayed because we are both enjoying the never ending supply of water that we have hooked up to our motorhome. Oh yes, "Life Is Good Today." After setting up we both immediately went to "work" - Billy landscaping our sight and myself picking up big limbs and trash in the campground. After only a short while I remembered how easily it is to overheat and become dehydrated here, and the water is too cold to jump in the lake! Boo! My muscles are sore and my body aches, but we must get into shape to be able to "work" the trails in Ocala National Forest next winter! Billy and I returned to one of our favorite restaurants here Monday night - The Chicken House. They don't waste words with fancy names for the restaurants around here. My chicken fingers and Billy's catfish were as good as we remembered. Late Tuesday afternoon we drove into Augusta to run a multitude of errands...the fabric store, Petsmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, RV Parts Store and of course Wally World. Afterwards we spent a few hours with Kinley, Lori and Brandon. My Kinley has really grown; she looks so beautiful like Lori, and has an abundance of personality. I showered her with three new summer outfits and a ton of kisses. She has been "snotting" and coughing, and we are hoping that her appointment with the Allergist on Thursday results in some answers to her misery. "Life Is Good Today," I think we will enjoy a rainy day in the park.

Georgia On Our Minds

Where do you start? How do we ever catch up on the Blog? Our family experienced two deaths on the same day - we said a final farewell to Granny (Kevin's Grandma), and Tom Hollingsworth. Thankfully Billy had a few VA appointments scheduled in Tampa so we were able to be there to help out Marianne and Kevin with our precious Jackson. It was difficult saying goodbye to Jackson, but we will see them again in July. Billy and I rushed around the motorhome preparing it for departure as soon as we returned to Shanty Pond. Sadly, we had to leave The Ocala National Forest without proper "good-byes;" however we will see everyone again next year. It was a long, tedious, seven hour trip to Oglethorpe County, GA with Billy driving the motor home and me following behind with the 4 wheeler. Billy left for Greenville, SC early the following morning to be with Aunt Peggy and family. I stayed behind because I was afraid that there would be a full house there with Peggy and Tom's family arriving. As soon as we arrived at Caroline's house, Beverly and I took Phil and Lincoln to the church for a cookout and giant Easter egg hunt. A good time was had by all. We celebrated Easter Sunday and Lincoln's birthday with the Paradise family. Again, there was much love and plenty of good food. Phil and Lincoln have both grown so much, but this Memaw would not take anything in the world for the feeling that swelled up inside of me when the boys raced across the front yard into my arms. Yesterday, we kept Lincoln home from daycare and had a great day playing and bonding with him once again. Tonight we are going to watch Phil play teeball. It's a busy schedule being around young kids again. Life remains Good Today and it is great being under the Georgia pines once again.